Falcon exits; break in foul weather seen by Monday

PAGASA-DOST MTSAT-EIR satellite image as of 4 p.m., Saturday

MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) Tropical Storm Falcon (Meari) left the Philippines Saturday morning  but gained strength as it moved north-northwest, dissolving a low pressure area that had spun off its tail over the Pacific Ocean on Friday, the weather bureau said.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said fairer skies were expected on Monday as the southwest monsoon, which has been bringing pounding rain over much of Luzon in the past few days, is expected to wane.

“The low pressure area went out with Falcon quickly so it will continue to suck the southwest monsoon today. Fair weather [is expected] Monday to Wednesday,” said Graciano Yumul, the undersecretary of science who supervises Pagasa.

The last storm warnings over the Calayan, Babuyan and Batanes groups of islands were also lifted on Saturday.

The southwest monsoon, however, continued to bring rains of between 6- and 15-mm per hour, considered heavy per the Pagasa scale, over parts of Northern and Central Luzon through most of Saturday.

Pagasa also issued flashflood and landslide warnings in several provinces in Luzon: Pampanga, Bataan, Bulacan, Zambales, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union, Benguet, Mountain Province, Abra, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte.

The Ipo dam in Bulacan and the Ambuklao and Binga dams in Benguet continued to release water as heavy rains filled the reservoirs to their spilling levels, a check with Pagasa’s hydrometeorology section showed.

Water at the Ipo Dam, which has been releasing water since Thursday night, was beyond critical at 100.88 meters at 11 a.m. Saturday.  The dam’s spilling level is at 100.87 meters.

Ambuklao has also reached critical with 752.08 meters of water, slightly beyond its threshold of 752 meters.  Binga had reserves of up to 565.55 meters of water, already considered critical while far from its capacity 575 meters because of structural integrity concerns, said Pagasa.

La Mesa dam continued to overflow as its water level stood at 80.32 meters as of 11 a.m., beyond its capacity 80.15 meters.